“While we can confirm that recent news about new solar subsidies from the [Chinese] Department of Construction is too premature to quantify, our checks indicate where there is smoke there is fire,” he writes. “Recent announcements are just the tip of the iceberg.” He writes that contacts at the National Development and Reform Commission say the country is planning a $30 billion, four-year green stimulus program. According to Pichel, the Chinese government at this point has not decided how to allocate the funds. He contends the program is a positive for solar stocks long-term, but that it is too early to quantify the impact on the solar sector, and that it will be “more of a 2010/2011 story.”

He says that all the cash will be spent by 2012 or 2013. We look forward to hearing what other people say. This story has been filled with haze from the get go, but it looks like investors are buying into the idea.